Understandable
by xStaticxTelevisionx
Summary: Alice gets kicked out of the Clock Tower on a not-so-good day. She decides to head to the Amusement Park, and to her great dismay, someone picks up on her particular problem. She contains her embarrassment admirably. T! I'd classify the genre as Awkward.


**Why did I think this was a good idea? I didn't want to post it, but that would defeat the entire purpose of me having a fanfiction account. I post all my work, good and bad, because I need to practice. Anyways, let me know what you thought of this trainwreck. All feedback is appreciated, even if it's negative. Be as critical as you like! xP :3**

 **-Static**

 **/*\**

It was rather uncustomary for Julius to kick her out of the tower, but for some reason, her company was not desired today. Today of all days.

The one day she would have been absolutely content to stay home.

She trekked through the woods carefully, mindful of each step. One wrong move, one tiny mishap...

And everyone would know just why she felt so awful today. Her eviction had been quite impromptu. Abrupt and unexpected, she'd had very little time to prepare before she found herself standing in front of the Tower with instructions to go out and play. What was his problem? She'd been quiet, the coffee had come out nice today, she hadn't recently been late returning from errands...what was wrong? It wasn't worth asking or dwelling over. It was clear she would not be let back inside.

Alice debated which way to go, shortly after Julius locked the front door, and had come to her decision fairly quickly.

Naturally, Heart Castle might seem like an obvious choice, the Queen would understand, as she had this issue as well. She would be sympathetic to Alice's immediate plight, and would probably take very good care of her. However, given that Peter and Ace lived in the castle as well, she chose to forego any comfort the Queen might offer. Right at that moment, Alice needed the guarantee that she would not have to see either imbecile. She did not have the patience to deal with them, not now.

Hatter Territory was an absolute no-go. With a pair of pervy twelve-year-old's (that she did love in spite of everything) and a man who disrespected everything women were...she just might kill someone. So, not a good idea.

With no other options, that left the Amusement Park. Gowland had been drowning in work lately, so she would not be subject to the torture he called "music", and Boris had been oddly absent. She hadn't seen the cat for a couple of weeks, and if this pattern continued... The chances of running into a Role-Holder there were fairly slim.

Her decision made, Alice warily moved a foot off the doorstep, and took the back road to the Park. Perhaps she might even find some supplies in one of the shops.

/*\

Julius locked the door behind him quickly, and taking a deep breath, reluctantly made his way up to the office.

"Alright Ace," He growled, slumping into the chair at his desk, "She's gone."

The grin on the Knight's face as he approached could make anyone nervous.

/*\

When Alice entered the infirmary, she was immediately surrounded by concerned employees. It was clear that something was very off. She held herself carefully. There was no spring to her step, nor was she smiling. She grimaced as though she were suppressing some sort of pain.

"My gosh, Miss Alice, why are you here?"

"Are you injured?"

"Does something hurt?"

The voices only got louder and louder. By the time Alice got a turn to speak her head was spinning and aching and her patience had been entirely drained.

"SETTLE DOWN." She commanded, and the faceless fell silent. "I just need a couple of things. Preferably, from a _woman_." She hissed. It was clear that opposition would not be welcome, so the male employees hastily moved back as she whispered her request into the ear of a female worker. Her face morphed from worried confusion to amusement and comprehension.

"Of course I can get those things for you. Wait right here." And so the woman left, and Alice breathed a sigh of relief. No Gowland, no Boris, no anyone. Maybe she could make this work after all, and maybe quietly volunteer some light labor for the trouble. It would definitely kill some time.

But then, she was Alice Liddell. There was no way she'd get to have such luck.

"But I heard she was in the infirmary!" A voice protested loudly, "Can't you at least tell me what's wrong with her, if you won't let me in?!"

Of course. Not only did one of the Role-Holders have to figure out she was here, but it just had to be the one with the super powered senses.

"There's nothing wrong with her-" The nurse reassured, but that was all the man heard.

"Then it should be fine for me to go in." He interrupted, and shoved past her into the medical wing, where Alice was patiently sitting on the bed, waiting for the nurses return. She glanced up as the door slammed open and several men and women protested his breach of medical procedure.

"Alice!" Boris exclaimed, racing up to her bed the moment he took sight of her. "Alice are you alright? The nurses said you were fine, but you wouldn't be here if-" she shied away the moment his fingers grasped at her arm. That wasn't unusual but...she only ever did that when he was teasing her. In moments of seriousness, such as this, she didn't mind it when he touched her.

Had he hurt her?

Upon asking the question, she adamantly shook her head no.

"No! No you didn't do anything wrong..." she trailed off, looking too uncomfortable for words, fiddling with her hair and fingers.

"Then what...?" The cat asked, entirely confused, then her scent hit him like a ton of bricks. It wafted up into his nose the moment the vent whirred on. With that simple clicking noise, something sweet, spicy, and far too alluring for her own good made itself known. This was a scent he was familiar with, though he'd had yet to smell it on Alice.

 _Oh._

The girl watched with horror as the cat's nose twitched and his ears perked in realization as the breeze hit her side. His one eye flickered to hers and his lips parted slightly as his pupil dilated. He _knew_.

"Oh." He murmured, gawking, and sidled away, stepping back. _She's human, she's human, she's human, it does not mean what I want to think it means._ "I'm sorry. I didn't realize...I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"It's fine." she squeaked, and then hastily shooed him away. "Just get out of here. I'm sure you have things you ought to be doing that don't include worrying over my..." Go away, go away, go away... The cat nodded in understanding, and backtracked a little more.

"Of course. I get it." Then a pause, "However, at the moment I have no responsibilities in need of immediate attention." Alice felt her heart sink. Normally, this was followed by a mischievous grin and several persuasive lines to get her to do something she would normally never dream of considering.

Such as going on a roller-coaster right after a dramatic time change, like noon to night for example, when her vision was all mucked up.

She was in no condition to be putting up with his antics, and she didn't know how to get out of it. The girl was so preoccupied imagining all the scenarios her feline friend might have planned, that she hadn't noticed.

He'd left.

/*\

Alice had been quite confused at the Cheshire Cat's absence, but when he failed to return after more than a few minutes, she pushed the incident out of her mind. He was probably feeling rather awkward. She knew that such things were different for animals and humans, and so he was trying to avoid her. She couldn't blame him. The smell had to be awful. Though a tad hurt, Alice understood, and so she carried on with her day, helping the workers in the tiny hospital patch up scrapes on children's knees and do a rather nasty stitching job.

To this day she wondered why it was women who could so easily faint at the sight of blood. It had to be fake.

As soon as she was finished assisting a pair of male doctors throw out the dirtied suture, she started towards the bathroom. When she was finished attending to her own personal needs, she moved to further lend her help to the staff. Just a few steps into the hallway, however, destroyed that plan. Alice was confronted with none other than Boris. He was standing confidently...but still a bit uncertain. He'd pulled himself together, and appeared a little more composed than earlier.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned bluntly, and a little uneasily. With that he looked...really embarrassed.

"Actually, I was coming to spring you from the hospital. I imagine that...in your current state, you don't want to be walking around and doing stuff and dealing with other people. I've heard it doesn't feel good. If you like, you can come back to my room. Also, I wanted to apologize about earlier. It was really uncool of me to dramatize your...situation. It's a normal thing. I'm sorry." He hung his head in shame, and then his ears perked slightly at the considering look on her face.

She hadn't been expecting an apology, and she found herself quite grateful for it. For once, the notion of visiting the cat's apartment didn't seem so bad.

/*\

For the first time that day, Alice had the luxury of sitting down and relaxing. Boris offered her a comfy chair, and she leaned back into it, sighing happily. She debated whether or not it might be rude to sleep when the cat approached once more and placed something in her hands.

A pint of chocolate ice cream. She looked up at him questioningly and he shrugged.

"I hear chocolate is good for...yeah." Well, he wasn't necessarily wrong, so she took the spoon from his hand and happily dug in. Under normal circumstances, she might have been inclined to feel irked by constant mention of her...issue, but he was trying to be nice. In fact, this was the kindest someone - particularly a man - had ever been to her concerning this. She wouldn't squander that in a fit of embarrassment.

"Why do you know that?" She asked in between spoonfuls of the sugary goodness. The cat's ears perked,

"Why would I _not_ know that?" She tilted her head at him,

"Because...you're male." The girl stated, quite decisively.

"Hey!" The cat snapped, eyes flaring open and ears flattening. He almost seemed...offended? "I know there are jerks out there but don't lump me in with them! My parents didn't raise an idiot. I'm familiar with fertility cycles, even human ones." Needless to say, Alice was a little confused.

"What do you mean? It's not uncommon for men to avoid women during this time. Assuming they know it's happening." She muttered the last part irately.

Boris couldn't tell if she was joking.

"What do _you_ mean? Men are supposed to be super-nice when this happens."

"It would have made my short life much easier if that were true." The cat couldn't help to raise an eyebrow. She didn't seem to be lying, but at the same time...that really didn't sound right. Were people in her world really that inconsiderate? And she called Wonderland ridiculous.

"Are...are you serious?" She nodded her head. "Well then..."

"I take it, it's quite different here?"

"Very. You're a disgrace if you're disrespectful to a woman while she's menstruating. If you're close with her, it's your job to take care of her, to a certain degree. At least, that's how it is for cats. I was never really clear on the rules for other animal races." But Alice was stuck on "menstruating". She couldn't help but to marvel at the cat's casual use of the word. Not uncouth, not cringing, but completely matter-of-fact, as though he were speaking of the weather as opposed to a subject commonly considered taboo within her own world.

"Really?" The cat nodded,

"I know it's different for animals - cats especially - but I _do_ know the rules about human women. They can't control it, and it's very often an inconvenience for them. I also know that it is _not_ an...invitation. My father explained it quite explicitly." Choosing to overlook the last part, Alice leaned back in her chair and nodded, licking the ice cream off her spoon.

"That's true. It _is_ fairly annoying. Doesn't feel so great either."

"My point exactly. Stay here as long as you like. I'll make sure you're comfortable until it's over." Alice spent a few moments considering the proposition, and made the decision. She highly doubted that she'd be treated with the same type of consideration back at the Tower, Julius was terrible with such things, so she accepted the offer. Not much later, she asked for some painkillers and fell asleep in her chair, much to the cats amusement.

 **/*\**

 **Welp...that was a thing. A really stupid thing. With a really lame ending. But there was a certain kind of cuteness to it that made me think, "Maybe it's not so bad..." On that note, I'll let you guys decide what was going on with Julius and Ace.**

 **-Static**


End file.
